“La Cité interdite au Louvre” project finalised

From 29 September 2011 to 9 January 2012, the Louvre will host “La Cité interdite au Louvre” (“The Forbidden City at the Louvre”). For the exhibition, the French museum will present several objects from the Forbidden City Palace in Beijing.

On Thursday, the Chinese palace presented some of the objects to the public. Many of them have never travelled outside the Forbidden City. This is thus an exceptional event for the Louvre, as the museum does not have a section dedicated to Chinese art.

All in all, 130 pieces once belonging to Chinese emperors and sovereigns will travel to France. The pieces should arrive before the end of the summer and will be exhibited at the Louvre’s Galerie Richelieu.

The event will compare French and Chinese dynasties as well as the Forbidden City and the Louvre. These two institutions were both the dwellings of kings and emperors before being converted into museums.